Dowsing, or water divining, exists at the threshold between science and a pagan procedure; it uses special bifurcated sticks or rods to find structures below the surface, including water and oil, as well as hidden objects.

For ‘Dowsing Schools’ Beckett invited two British Dowsers to scope the grounds of primary and secondary schools in Amsterdam. The dowsers work through school playgrounds, classrooms and gymnasiums, sports fields and cafeterias and discover ancient ruins, Roman roads, agricultural storage and other buried remnants.

The radio programmes will be previewed 3:30pm 10th and 17th of June on the Audio Foundation’s AFM. They will eventually be released by Beckett as part of a series of six programmes.

Episode 1 follows dowser John Baker in his investigation of Johan de Witt College.

Episode 2 is a survey of the Nieuw Welgelegen sports school carried out by dowser David Lockwood.

James Beckett (1977, Zimbabwe, lives in Amsterdam) has showed extensively internationally. In 2003 he was the winner of the Prix de Rome, Art and Public Space in the Netherlands. Amongst his most recent solo exhibitions are: That’s That, That Way Round, Basically; As You Probably Know, Artists’ Club Coffrefort, Brussels, Passionate Advocate for a Poisoned Earth, TWAAS, New York (both 2013. He participated in a number of group projects including: Liquid Assets, Steirischer Herbst, Graz; Scenographies, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (all 2013).